Saturday meant an early start. Unfortunately, we didn't bother.
Instead we had a bit of a lie in, and packed up and headed out at about midday to Tamworth, to Drayton Manor Theme Park, to Thomasland therein.
It absolutely fucking pissed down all the way there, but despite that, the traffic was tolerable. Penny slept for a bit on the way and by the time we got there, at about 2pm, it had stopped raining. The sun hadn't come out, however, but we chanced it anyway.
Turns out we were wise to. We wandered round with Penny who really seemed to enjoy herself. She went on some rides and stuff, we saw some animals at the zoo, including an anaconda and a tiger (though the tiger looked a bit shitty. Old, small, thin. A little upsetting, really) and then we went to the 4D cinema experience of The Polar Express. Penny got a little grouchy in the queue, and a bit whimpery, but she perked up a bit inside. Then, part of the 4D experience meant that at various points you'd get splashed in the face with a bit of water. Penny did not like this at all.
We got outside and it had started raining and Penny didn't look well. She had a bit of a temperature and hadn't really eaten all day.
We went, then, on to the Travelodge in Tamworth, which was basically a room with a bed. The TV was older than me, and it smelled damp. We almost didn't stay as Penny seemed to deteriorate, but we waited it out. I was dozing off by about 8:30 and Melissa followed suit. At midnight and 22 minutes, however, Penny woke up screaming. We found it hard to settle her and she was roasting hot. We gave her some Calpol and sbout 30 minutes later she'd cooled down and wanted to play. We sang songs, played games and generally had a lovely time, until she nodded off in Melissa's arms, in our bed. I was relegated to the couch, naturally.
We headed off as early as we could, with plans to hit McDonald's big time, but finding only Costa we indulged in coffee, muffins and Krispy Kreme donuts, which essentially made the whole trip worthwhile.
On the journey we made the decision to take Penny, who still wasn't right, to the hospital to get her checked over.
Of course, by the time we got there she was right as rain. The doctor's didn't believe there was anything wrong with her, but did the usual checks. She didn't like Dr Malik at all. But he found that she had a very red throat and prescribed a spray to soothe the pain, and told us to keep dosing her on Calpol and ibuprofen as when needed, and just, you know, keep doing what we're doing. It was good to know we were doing everything we should, as well as having confirmation that there didn't appear to be much wrong with her.
We brought her home, then, and put her down for a nap, after giving her some throat spray. She slept for a little over 90 minutes, then we woke her up, gave her some medicine and they left me then to set about tidying and cleaning the house. I hoovered to within an inch of it's life, cooked some soup for tea, and re-hung a cupboard door. Busy afternoon.
Melissa picked me up, then, and took me to her mum and dads where her dad had prepared roast duck. Of course, at that point I was whisked up to the pub with my father in law, brother in law and Melissa's cousin. Too many pints later, Tracy and Dave popped in to say hello, then I was driven to collect my tea.
I was given a plate of roast duck and veg, which I decided to heat up at home to heat up at home, then Melissa drove me and Penny home. She's in fine fettle, is our Penny.
She had a bath, then we gave her some ibuprofen and some of her throat spray. She had a cheesy biscuit and now she's settling down with some milk.
I'm going to microwave my roast duck dinner. I'm so middle class.
Christmas eve tomorrow. I resent having to go to work, but there we go. Two more sleeps for those of you not counting. See you tomorrow evening!
